i heart ny x 3

I love New York because of:

-- picnic in Central Park and playing our Favourite game. Who’s your favourite character actor? Favourite author? Favourite holiday companion? [The last is a trick question, heh heh...]

-- Krispy Kreme donuts fresh off the conveyor belt. And I got the T-shirt to prove it! Also have the “I heart New York” T-shirt, just like a true blue tourist.

-- Chelsea Papaya’s BLT, which was specially made for me the non-beef-eater. I swear it was nonetheless contaminated with beef juices from the grill, hence so delish.

-- the Met’s Temple of Dendur. I stood within it in a daze, unable to comprehend that this was the actual temple from Egypt, brought over and recreated stone by stone.

-- Williamsburg and its quaint little shops.

-- Greenwich and Magnolia Bakery’s diabetic-inducing cupcakes.

-- Coney Island [which is not an island and we still haven’t found out why it is thus named] and its rickety wooden roller coaster and laugh-until-stomachache ride called The Zipper. Just found out that the roller coaster, known as the Cyclone, was built in 1927 and, according to the website, Emilio Franco, a mute since birth, regained his voice on the Cyclone, uttering his first words ever -- "I feel sick"!

-- Cocktail at subterranean Russian bar Pravda. We made the one delish drink last the entire evening and bonded over Most Embarrassing Moments, a variation of our Favourite game.

-- TV dinners on compartmentalised plastic plates.

-- TV. Endless episodes of Gilmore Girls and Law & Order on Tivo. Season finales of shows which haven’t even started on Singapore TV. Circumsized Cinema. And of course, Channel 35.

-- Tiny Doll House, with its, ahem, tiny doll houses filled with tiny chairs, tiny beds, tiny chandeliers which actually work, tiny fake food [Krispy Kreme!], tiny mannequins with tiny dresses in progress. Tiny, tiny, tiny!

-- flea markets. Don’t be jealous of my Little House on the Prairie dress, beaten up red leather bag, floral circle skirt, vintage pony brooch, fake amethyst earrings...I can’t get enough of old stuff.

-- Urban Outfitters, Crate & Barrel, Old Navy and of course, old favourite H&M. Oh the many happy hours we spent there.

-- MOMA gift shop. Call me shallow, but even though I couldn’t squeeze time out for the actual museum, I managed to go to its gift shop three times.

-- the weather when the sun was out. But for one abnormal week, it was the coldest spring since 1967. Going around in flip flops when it is 50 deg F (10 deg C) and raining makes you learn how to walk with wet and frozen feet without slipping and truly appreciate sunshine when it appears.

-- Ginnie and Alfie.